Czech Republic: Organic Product Brief
In 1990, after the change of the national political system, organic agriculture in the Czech Republic started to write its history. Three organic farms were pioneers in this field; today there are over 4,250 organic farms registered covering a total area of over 505,000 hectares. Moreover, there are over 540 registered producers of organic products. They include wine, milk and dairy products, fruit and vegetables, and beef. The Czech market for organic packaged food is $40 million USD, while the total market size with organic products is around $80 mil USD. Consumption of organic products is still small (less than $8 USD per person per year, while the EU average is over $47 USD), but the market is slowly growing with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and several domestic companies producing and importing organic products. Some of these private companies contribute to marketing and inform consumers on the benefits of organic products through their own channels, magazines, webpages, etc. About 50 percent of organic products are imported. The best prospects for U.S. organic products would be for innovative products with an interesting label. Successful products from the United States could be dried fruit and nuts, pulses, snacks, cereals and products with a longer shelf life.
